Senate stuck on fiscal cliff

The tit-for-tat over avoiding the fiscal cliff slogged onward Sunday, as Senate leaders remained essentially stuck following a frantic day of horse-trading and bitter attacks by both Democrats and Republicans.

Fiscal cliff: A primer

Both sides now have 48 hours to resolve their differences, or risk a double whammy of historic tax hikes and spending cuts that will make them even more unpopular outside-the-Beltway.

After every breakthrough, there seemed to be a new obstacle standing in the way of a deal, underlining the perception that the nation’s lawmakers and the White House simply can’t come to terms with each other. Vice President Joe Biden — who had remained on the sidelines for much of the negotiations — returned to Washington on Sunday after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) requested it.

“Mr. President, I rise today frustrated, embarrassed and angry,” said West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on the floor Sunday. “It is absolutely inexcusable that all of us find ourselves in this place at this time, standing on the floor of the Senate in front of the American people hours before we plunge off the fiscal cliff. With no plan and no apparent hope.”

After loud Democratic protests on Sunday, Republicans agreed to take off the table a controversial provision that would have cut Social Security benefits. But more hurdles emerged, including over automatic spending cuts set to take place next year, and the rates for estate taxes that are set to balloon if no deal is reached by the new year.

With no deal at hand, Senate leaders were preparing alternative plans to avoid the cliff’s full impact, including a fall-back option floated by Democrats to force through an extension of current tax rates for families who make less than $250,000, as well as new spending measures to extend jobless benefits for two million unemployed Americans. Republicans were still weighing whether they’d demand 60 votes for passage of even a limited measure, though the prospects for such a bill in the GOP-controlled House remained bleak.

The House Republican leadership moved Sunday night to give itself expedited authority to bring legislation to the floor in case there was an opening.

There is also clearly growing tensions between McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the pair who took over the fiscal cliff talks on Friday following weeks of fruitless discussions between President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Democrats are angry at McConnell, believing he’s adopted the “majority of majority” standard Boehner has demanded in the House for the Senate. McConnell does not believe Reid is playing straight with him, saying the Nevada Democrats has shown little urgency by dragging his feet through the weekend of talks.

McConnell even called in Biden to help break the logjam, although the vice president has offered nothing different from Reid’s position.

“There is still significant distance between the two sides, but negotiations continue,” Reid said Sunday evening, announcing that the chamber would return to session Monday morning.

On Sunday afternoon, a new sticking point emerged over “turning off” the sequester, the tens of billions of dollars in spending cuts slated to hit the Pentagon and federal agencies beginning Jan. 2. Democrats want to use some of the revenue from the increased taxes of a cliff deal to postpone those cuts. Republicans, however, are objecting to that proposal, saying they want savings from other areas.

Democrats have floated a potential compromise to use a portion of the new revenue and other savings from a cliff deal — a “50/50 split” — to “turn off” the sequester, but it is unclear if GOP leaders will agree to that offer.

And Biden’s inclusion in the negotiations — similar to the role he played in previous legislative fights involving McConnell, an old Senate colleague — sets up a “good cop, bad cop” scenario for Democrats, with Reid playing the heavy and Biden able to work more closely with GOP leaders on Capitol Hill.

He said, she said; finger pointing and pontificating, posturing and pawing the dirt, huffing and puffing to bring the house down. That's what our congress has come to; not a clue what the populace wants, just what they want for their crony friends. We will wither away as a viable country that the world respects until we make decisions based on the popular vote results. Congress needs to implement legislation mandated by the general public, not the lobbyists/consultants on the DC beltway. The day of reckoning will come before this farce/debacle is over; a 'do nothing' congress is worse than no congress at all. THROW THE BUMS OUT...................................

Oh yeah, that social security money the Republicans used to run those two wars to the tune of $4.6 TRILLION, they want to keep it and not pay it back. They want to give it to corporations and rich people. DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!

anythinggoes, you seem to have forgotten the debacle called Iraq, WMD's, imminent threat, 4,000 Americans killed at a cost of $1 Trillion. And what of the $9.5 Trillion in debt added by Reagan, Bush and Bush?

I'm surprised that we have not had civil unrest in the U.S. yet. My prediction is that by early 2014, when all the Obama taxes, fees, EPA regulations, and government control of peoples lives finally kicks in, we'll have riots the likes of which America has never seen.

Rome is burning, and the average airhead so far doesn't really care. Time's they are a changing.